MSA 500 G1 non-clustered mode shared storage ?

[Bob Bell_1]

I have a MSA500-G1 with the standard 2-port i/o module for server acceess to storage. Can this be used in non-clustered mode to allow two servers to use the array logical drives ? If not, can G1 use the G2 designated MSA500G2 4-Port I/O Module with Smart Array Multipath Software 335882-B21 to allow me 4 server access to the storage. Basically, I want to use this G1 for multiple servers, what are my options. Thanks !!

[Stephen Kebbell · Accepted solution]

Hi Bob,

yes you can use it in non-clustered mode. But you must use Selective Storage Presentation to restrict access. Two non-clustered servers cannot access the same logical drive, otherwise you will get corrupted data.
The same goes for the 4-port module. AFAIK the G2 module should work in the G1 MSA500, but I can't say for definite. You don't need Multipathing software if you are connecting 4 servers, as they would all have just one connection.

Regards,
Stephen

[Bob Bell_1]

Stephen,

First thanks for a response. I am a newbie to the MSA world and trying to maximize this 500-G1 usage. I was under the impression the the SSP was part of the multipath software, and not ACU ? So your saying that (at the moment with the two port standard) I can just make two logical drives and map to the servers via SSP to those drives. Correct ? Also, if I get the 4-port module, does that replace the 2-port or give me a total of six access paths to six logical drives ? In addition, does the acu allow any usage of the larger than the smallest drive in a raid-5/10 leftover space ? If I replace a radi5 36gb drive with a 73gb, can I do anything with the extra (typically wasted space) on these boxes ? Also, :),
In array/logical drive capacity expansion, is it all the drive or nothing scenario ?

Thanks..
Bob

[Uwe Zessin]

SSP (Selective Storage Presentation, a.k.a. "LUN masking") is a feature of a storage array.

The ACU (Array Configuration Utility) is just the graphical user interface which allows you to change SSP on the MSA.

A multipathing solution lives in the operating system. It's usually a filter driver that shields the paths from the upper layer file system which does not know how to deal with them.

You can use disk drives with different sizes in a disk drive array, but the SmartArray controller in the MSA uses the smallest disk drive to calculate the available space. Any space on the larger disks CANNOT be used.

[Rita Salim]

I have a question about the MSA500G2 with the 4-Port I/O Module, if my DL380G4 server is using the SA6i and SA642 to connect to the MSA500G2 SA6i connects to A1, SA642 connects to A2. There are 4 x 300GB disks in the MSA500GB created as a RAID 5. I haven't install any OS yet. But when I run the smartstart CD and run the survey, it will detect there are 8 hard disks and if i ran diagnostic, then different hard disks will show different error.
I want to know is there any properly steps to run diagnostic, when a server has two controllers connected to the MSA500G2. Or we have to disable one controller in order to run diagnostic?